Jen Rudin

Jen Rudin is an Award-Wining Casting Director who grew up in New York City and began her professional acting career at age eight. She created many new roles in new plays, starred in several television movies, and did commercials. At age twelve, she had her first epiphany at a final callback that she wanted to be a Casting Director – a perfect blend of her photographic memory and love of actors. Her casting philosophy combines the challenge of solving the casting puzzle – who is best for the role? – while creating an honest, positive and comfortable audition environment, in what is often the most stressful of situations. In early 2014, Harper Collins will publish her book Confessions of a Casting Director. Jen spent seven years as a Casting Executive at The Walt Disney Company. From 2002-2007, Jennifer served as head of casting for Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California and she won the 2006 Artios Award for casting Chicken Little and the 2010 Artios Award for The Princess and the Frog. From 2007-2009, she served as Director of Casting and Talent Development for Disney Theatrical Productions in New York City. Additional animated movies Meet the Robinsons (2007 Artios Nomination), The Wild (2006 Artios nomination), Academy Award Winning film The Incredibles, Academy Award nominated Brother Bear, Heroes, Savva. In Los Angeles, Jennifer cast the Los Angeles premiere of Jason Robert Brown’s musical “13”, winner of the 2008 LA Drama Critics Circle Award. Recent New York casting projects include the following films: Mama (Guillermo del Toro, producer), The Lorax (Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment), Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie (Walt Disney Pictures), and Peter Bogdanovich’s Squirrels to the Nuts. TV pilots include NY Casting for numerous pilots including “Locke and Key” and “Touch” starring Kiefer Sutherland for Fox. Jen has also cast hundreds of national television commercials; including the famous “Can you hear me now?” campaign for Verizon and currently casts the voices for the World of War Craft video game and Nick Jr.’s animated series Peter Rabbit. Jen has held faculty positions at Pace University and taught Master Classes at NYU, Boston Conservatory, Northwestern University, Emerson College, Webster University, Baylor University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, The New York Film Academy and University of the Arts. She continues to lecture and teaches numerous Casting and Audition workshops around New York City and the country. Jen is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a past Board Member for the Casting Society of America. In her spare time, she is an avid bicyclist and a frequent contributing writer to The Jewish Week. For more info, visit www.jenrudin.com or email Jen@jenrudin.com.